JP3241648B2 - Network connection device management application development method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a management application development method, and more particularly to a development method capable of efficiently developing management applications for many target devices in a short period of time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A management application for managing network connection devices such as routers and hubs has been developed.
Providing a GUI for performing operations on each device from a graphic screen by graphically displaying the mounting state of ports, LEDs, etc. on the front panel of each device as it is, as if a remote device exists right before your eyes It is a method that can be expressed as if it were intuitive and easy to understand in terms of device management, and has a high impact.

Conventionally, development of this type of management application has been a development method specialized for each target device as shown in FIG.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional network connection device management application development system, since various management devices are developed for each target device, various models are shipped from many vendors. Under the current situation where the life cycle is short, there is a disadvantage that development efficiency and maintenance efficiency are poor.

An object of the present invention is to have a common base and GUI, and to use this base to create a device-specific information file instead of developing from scratch when developing a new management application. It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact management application development method that can be developed by simply performing the operation.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the invention of the present application, Ne
Management application for managing network connection devices
Network connection device management application for developing applications
Application development method, wherein the network connection machine
Define device-specific customization data and define device-specific information files.
Device that creates a file, and a device-specific information file
Analyzes the file and creates a GUI specific to the network connection device.
A device-specific data analysis unit for acquiring configuration data;
Interface to obtain the latest data of
A base control unit having a network automatic discovery unit;
Network configuration device-specific GUI configuration data and the acquired network
Create and display a GUI from the latest data of network connection devices
Connecting device composed of GUI control unit shown
In the container management application development method, the custom
Mize data depends on the network connection device
Menu definition on GUI and items to be displayed in dialog,
And the connection between the network connection device and the network.
Interface, including the configuration status of the LED
It is characterized by.

[0007] The second invention of the present application is the first invention.
The interface automatic discovery unit is configured to execute the device-specific information file.
Configuration information about the interfaces in the file
GUI configuration data analyzed by the unique data analysis unit
From the latest data of the network-connected device
What kind of interface and LED are
Find the configuration that is in the position, and
Via the GUI control unit so as to be reflected on the GUI
It is characterized by controlling.

[0008] In a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the interface automatic discovery unit periodically polls the configuration and status of the network connection device to thereby check the configuration status of the LED of the network connection device. When the color of the LED changes, the change is
It is characterized in that it is controlled via the GUI control unit so as to be reflected on the I.

[0009]

[0010]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the base control unit 1 obtains required target device acquisition data from the GUI configuration data analyzed from the device specific information file 2 and sends it to the GUI control unit 3 (FIG. 1-C). When there is a setting request from the GUI control unit 3 (specifically, when there is a setting process from the GUI screen such as resetting the target device) (FIG. 1-F), the target device setting data is converted from the setting request. It has a function of creating and setting it on the target device 5 (FIG. 1-A), and saving GUI save data in the device-specific information file 2 (FIG. 1-B).

The device-specific information file 2 is a file generated when the management application developer defines customization data for each target device in the customization device 4 when developing the management application 0.
It is an information file for storing GUI storage data edited on the GUI screen.

The GUI control unit 3 creates and displays a GUI from the GUI configuration data analyzed from the device-specific information file 2 by the base control unit 1 and the target device acquisition data obtained from the target device 5 by the base control unit 1. .

The customizing device 4 has a function that allows a developer to easily define customization data unique to a target device on a GUI when developing a management application.

By using this apparatus, it is possible to easily cope with a new target device.

FIG. 2 is an image diagram of the development environment of the present invention. Focusing on the development environment, the infrastructure control unit and GU
By sharing the I control unit, analysis for each target device is performed, and only a device-specific information file is created.
It has the feature that management applications can be created.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the board control unit 1 of the present invention.

The management protocol communication section 31 communicates with the target device using an actually appropriate protocol. For example, when the SNMP protocol is used as the management protocol, the encoding /
Perform decoding processing and set / acquire data. When setting data, target device setting data is created, and when acquiring data, target device acquisition data is created.

The interface automatic detection unit 32 is a part for analyzing the interface of the target device and the configuration of the LED associated with the interface. From the GUI configuration data obtained by analyzing the configuration information regarding the interface in the device-specific information file by the device-specific data analysis unit 33 and the target device acquisition data obtained from the management protocol communication unit 31, what type of interface (LE
D) finds the configuration of what position it is.

The device-specific data analysis unit 33 analyzes the device-specific information file generated by the customizing device and the data of the general-purpose database 34 (hereinafter, referred to as GUI general-purpose data) to create GUI configuration data. The required GUI configuration data is sent to the interface automatic detection unit and the GUI-if unit 35. Further, a write / read process of a device-specific information file relating to the GUI save data is performed.

The general-purpose database unit 34 is a part in which general-purpose GUI data is stored. This is data that is set in advance when customizing data is set by the customizing device.

GUI-if (interface) unit 35
Is an interface unit between the base control unit 1 and the GUI control unit 3. When executing the management application, the GU
When creating the I, the GUI from the device-specific data analysis unit 33
The configuration data is sent to the GUI control unit 3. When there is a setting request from the GUI control unit, the setting contents are sent to the management protocol communication unit 31, and when there is an acquisition request from the GUI control unit 3, the target device acquisition data is transmitted from the management protocol communication unit 31 to the GUI control unit. It has a function to send to the section 3.

GUI general-purpose data General-purpose GUI
Definition of menus and dialogs (for example, system information and interface information supported by the target device as standard), versatile interfaces and LEDs
Bitmap files and so on are stored.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for creating a device-specific information file using the customizing device. Here, the management application developer defines the customization data.

(Step 41) Define a vendor identifier for identifying the target device.

(Step 42) Create and define a bitmap file that images the panel of the target device. The bitmap file created here is used as a panel window screen which is a main window of the management application. Define the created bitmap file name on the customizing device.

(Step 43) Interface information is defined. This is information for identifying the configuration of the interface. Specifically, the information includes the type of interface, the position on the panel window, and the name of a bitmap file that images the interface shape.

(Step 44) The menu of the panel window is defined. Define the menu label and mnemonic, considering the menu structure.

(Step 45) The display information is set and the menu is linked. The display information setting specifies which items are to be displayed in what kind of layout in the displayed dialog. For the display item, specify the information supported by the target device. Specifically, when the SNMP protocol is used, the MIB (Managem
ent Information Base. SN
A tree structure data definition used in the MP protocol) is used to define display information for each dialog, and specify a label name and a display item name. After that, the user specifies which dialog is displayed from which menu.

(Step 46) The definition of the LED indicating the link state and the collision state of the interface. It defines the LED display bitmap file and the position to be displayed in the panel window.

(Step 47) Polling information is defined. The interface automatic discovery unit of the management application periodically performs polling processing on the specified polling information. For example, when defining LED information,
Information to be determined for the LED state and the correspondence between the value of the information and the color of the LED to be displayed are set. From the information set here, an LED is displayed in the panel window, the LED status is acquired from the target device at the time of polling, and the color determined from the defined information is displayed. Also, define when the panel window needs to be changed, such as when the target device is equipped with an expansion board or can be configured as a stack, and the configuration of the device or the interface of the device changes while the management application is running. .

When a management application is developed according to the processing flow described above, a new target device can be easily handled by creating a device-specific information file using a customizing device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart when the management application is activated and during operation. A description of the flowchart and which part of the execution environment each step operates will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Step 51) A vendor identifier is obtained from the target device 5 via the management protocol communication unit 31 of the base control unit 1 to determine the model.

(Step 52) Using the obtained vendor identifier, the model-specific data analysis unit 33 of the board control unit
Specifies the model and reads the corresponding device-specific information file 2.

(Step 53) Using the read device-specific information file, the GUI-if section 3 of the board control section
5 reads the bitmap file of the panel image.

(Step 54) The interface automatic discovery unit 32 of the board control unit acquires the configuration information on the interface in the device-specific information file from the GUI configuration data analyzed by the device-specific data analysis unit 33 and the management protocol communication unit 31. From the acquired target device acquisition data,
Discover the configuration of what type of interface is in what position.

(Step 55) It is checked whether or not the GUI storage data written at the end of the previous time from the device-specific information file by the device-specific data analysis unit and the configuration of the interface at the time of this start analyzed by the interface automatic detection unit are the same. It is a branch. When the management application is activated for the first time (there is no GUI storage data), the process proceeds to step 57.

(Step 56) The device-specific data analysis unit 33 reads the interface information (interface type, coordinates on the panel window, etc.) in the GUI storage data in the device-specific information file.

(Step 57) The device-specific data analysis unit sets interface information to be displayed on the GUI in the GUI-if unit 35 based on the data of the interface automatic discovery processing (step 54).

(Step 58) The device-specific data analysis unit converts the interface information to be displayed on the GUI into G based on the GUI storage data of the device-specific information file.
It is set in the UI-if section 35. The interface configuration is the same as when the management application was started last time.

(Step 59) As in Step 55, the GUI storage data written at the end of the previous time from the device-specific information file by the device-specific data analysis unit 33 and the interface at the time of this startup analyzed by the interface automatic detection unit 32 Is a branch for checking whether or not the LED configuration in the configuration is the same. When the management application is started for the first time (there is no GUI storage data), step 61
Processing proceeds to

(Step 60) The device-specific data analysis unit 33 reads LED information (such as the LED bitmap file name and the coordinates on the panel screen) in the GUI storage data in the device-specific information file.

(Step 61) The device-specific data analysis unit 33 performs an interface automatic discovery process (Step 5).
The LED information to be displayed on the GUI is set in the GUI-if unit 35 based on the data of 4).

(Step 62) The device-specific data analysis unit 33 displays the LED information to be displayed on the GUI based on the GUI storage data of the device-specific information file on the GUI-i.
Set to f section 35. The LED configuration is the same as when the management application was started last time.

(Step 63) GUI-if unit 35
The GUI control unit 3 receiving the GUI configuration data from
The interface information, the LED information, and the panel image bitmap are set in the panel window, and a GUI such as a window or a menu is formed and displayed.

(Step 64) The GUI control unit 3 obtains, from the target device, the polling information defined by the customizing device received from the GUI-if unit 35. Save the previously acquired data.

(Step 65) This is a branch in which the GUI control unit 3 checks whether there is a change between the data of the polling information previously obtained from the target device and the data obtained this time. If the same as the previous time (Yes), the polling process (Step 64) is performed again, and if different from the previous time (No), the panel window is displayed (Step 63).
And redisplay the panel window based on the changed polling information data. For example, when the status of the LED or interface is defined in the polling information, the bitmap file is displayed again in the defined color.
When the device configuration and the interface configuration are set in the polling information, the same image as the configuration of the actual device is displayed again on the panel window.

(Step 66) The GUI control unit 3
When the management application terminates, the interface and LE
Data such as D configuration is stored in the device-specific information file as a GUI.
Write as save data.

With the above processing flow, the management application can operate by creating only the device-specific information file.

[0053]

Next, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The target device 71 is a device for which a management application is to be developed. The features of the target device are as follows.

An SNMP agent is mounted as a management protocol.

The configuration of the interface is 100 BAS
24 ET interfaces, 1 SERIAL interface, 1 ATM interface, FDDI
It has one interface.

Two expansion slots are provided, and the configuration can be changed by inserting an interface board into the slots during operation.

There are two types of interface boards: ATM boards and FDDI boards.

The 100BASE-T interface has a corresponding LED, which is normally orange and lit green when the interface is congested with the network. The numbers uniquely set by the target device for each interface (hereinafter, referred to as interface numbers) are 100BASE-T, serial,
It is assumed that they are assigned to the ATM and FDDI interfaces in ascending order.

Customization data 72 of target device
, A device-specific information file is generated by the customizing device 73 of the present invention, and the management application 74 is completed.

Next, regarding the operation of the embodiment of the present invention, the processing of the customizing apparatus and the operation processing of the management application will be described. (1) Processing of Customizing Apparatus A detailed description will be given using FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 and a processing flow (FIG. 4) of creating a model-specific information file by the customizing apparatus.

FIG. 7 shows customization data (7 in FIG. 6).
6 is an example of the structure of a device-specific file related to the embodiment generated using the customizing device from 2).

1. 1. Define a vendor identifier of the target device (FIG. 4, step 41) Define a vendor identifier for identifying the target device (FIG. 7-F) Panel bitmap definition (FIG. 4, step 42) Creates a bitmap file that images the panel of the target device and sets a file name. (FIG. 7-D) 3. Interface information definition (FIG. 4, step 43) MIB (type identification MI) that can identify the interface shape from the definition of MIB supported by the target device
B (FIG. 7-A, FIG. 7-A) and an interface number-identifying MIB (FIG. 7-A,
)).

The position of the interface whose interface position is fixed is set (FIG. 7A). In this embodiment,
The 100BASE-T interface and the SERIAL interface correspond. The coordinates are coordinates on the panel image bitmap file, and are listed in the order of the interface number.

To identify the type of interface,
Set the type (Fig. 7-A,). The actual interface type (10BASE-T or the like) is associated with the value of the interface type identification MIB of the target device. For example, when the value of the interface identification MIB of the ATM interface is “1”,
"ATM: 1". The interface type can be selected by the customizing device.

The configuration of the interface expansion board is set. The MIB that can identify the board type from the definition of the MIB supported by the target device (Fig. 7-
A,) and the MIB that identifies the board number (Fig. 7-
A,) is specified.

The boat type (FIG. 7-A) has the configuration shown in FIG.
List the values of A, the interface type, and the coordinates of the interface with the board position on the panel image bitmap file as the origin.

Next, the position of the board (FIG. 7A) is set. Set the coordinates to display the board on the panel image bitmap file.

4. Menu definition (Figure 4, Step 4
4) Link between display information definition and menu (FIG. 4, step 45) Set menu and dialog display contents. A menu name, a mnemonic, and a dialog ID are set (FIG. 7C). The dialog ID is an identifier of a dialog to be displayed.

Set the title and display contents of the dialog. A label name (item content) and an MIB name to be displayed are set. For example, when a dialog as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, the customizing device generates data as shown in FIG.

5. LED information definition (Figure 4, Step 4
6) List the coordinates of the LED on the panel image bitmap file in the order of the LED number (index) (FIG. 7B).

An LED bitmap file name is set (FIG. 7-B,).

MIB supported by target device
Can be identified from the definition of LED (Figure 7-
B,). When acquiring the state of the LED by the polling information, this is a value for specifying which LED is used.

6. Polling information definition (FIG. 4, step 47) Specify the MIB to be polled. In the embodiment, a setting for polling the states of the interface and the LED will be described.

In the example of setting the interface status, an MIB for identifying the interface status is set in FIG. 7E. For example, the UP / DOWN state of an interface (the state (U
P) or an impossible state (DOWN). )and so on. Next, the values of the MIB for interface state identification and the state colors are associated with FIG. 7E. For example, in the polling of the interface in the UP / DOWN state, the color of the interface in the UP state is set to black, and
If the color of the interface in the state is set to red, if the actual interface enters the DOWN state for some reason during operation of the management application, it is detected at the time of polling and the interface bitmap is displayed in red,
It is possible to visually detect the state of the interface on the GUI screen.

The LED state is the same as the interface state. In the embodiment, the MIB (FIG. 7-E,
) Is set. The MIB value and the LED color when the interface is in a normal state are set to orange, and the MIB value and the LED color when the network is congested are set to green (FIG. 7-E,). When set, the interface in a network congested state can be visually detected on the GUI screen during the operation of the management application. (2) Operation Processing of Management Application Next, how the model-specific information file generated by the customizing apparatus of FIG. 7 relates to the operation processing of the management application (FIG. 5) will be described in detail.

1. Reading of the device-specific information file (FIG. 5, step 52) Based on the acquired vendor identifier, the model-specific data analysis unit 33 of the base control unit reads the vendor identifier information (FIG. 7-F) in the device-specific information file and agrees with it. This is regarded as the current, and the device-specific information file is read.

2. Reading the panel image bitmap (FIG. 5, step 53) Using the read device-specific information file, the GUI-if unit 35 of the base control unit uses the panel image bitmap file (FIG. 7-D) in the device-specific information file. ) And read the specified bitmap file.

3. Interface automatic discovery processing (Fig. 5,
Step 54) The GUI-if unit 35 performs an interface automatic discovery process based on the device-specific information file read by the device-specific data analysis unit 33 and the target device acquisition data acquired from the management protocol communication unit 31. The processing flow is shown below in a bulleted list.

The type identification MIB (FIG. 7A) is obtained from the target device. The acquired data is currently
There is as many interfaces as are implemented in the target device, and this list has information that can identify the shape of the interface. (The numbers are ascending in the order of the interface numbers.) Thus, the number of interfaces can be determined.

Interface number MIB (FIG. 7A,
) Is obtained from the target device. The acquired data is a list of numbers unique to each interface corresponding to the type identification MIB in order. This allows each interface to be uniquely identified.

Read information of type (FIG. 7-A,). Some values acquired by the type identification MIB are defined by each vendor. Here, the shape of each interface is determined from the value acquired by the type identification MIB and the above-mentioned information read. Thereby, the shape of each interface can be determined.

Read position (FIG. 7-A,) information.
Here, since the positions of the fixed interfaces are set in the order of the interface numbers, the coordinates are determined until there is data. In the case of the embodiment, at this time 100 BAS
The type and position of 24 E-T interfaces and one serial interface are determined.

Board type identification MIB (FIG. 7-A,
) Is obtained from the target device. The acquired data is the number of boards currently mounted on the target device, and is a list having information for identifying the type of the board. In the case of the embodiment, the ATM interface and the FD
The board type of the DI interface is stored.
As a result, the number and type of boards mounted can be determined.

· Board number identification MIB (FIG. 7A)
From the target device. The acquired data is a list of numbers unique to each board corresponding to the board type identification MIB in order. Thus, the mounted board can be uniquely identified.

Read board position (FIG. 7-A) information. Since the position of the designated board number on the panel bitmap is set here, the position of the board is determined from the acquired board number MIB value and the board type identification MIB value. I can judge.

Read board type (FIG. 7-A) information. Here, which interface is mounted on which board type and which position is set with the board as the origin. Since the board position and type are already known, the position and type of the interface mounted on the board can be determined.

The number identification MIB (FIG. 7B) is obtained from the target device. The acquired data is the number of LEDs currently mounted on the target device, and is a list of LED numbers arranged in ascending order unique to the target device. Thereby, the number of LEDs can be determined.

Read position (FIG. 7-B,) information.
Here, LED position information is listed in ascending order,
The position of each LED on the panel bitmap can be determined.

Read the information of the bit map (FIG. 7-B). Here, the bitmap file name of the LED to be displayed can be determined. It should be noted that the bitmap of the interface is used because GUI general-purpose data is registered in advance in the general-purpose database (FIG. 3, 34).

As described above, the automatic interface discovery processing can be performed.

4. Panel Window Display (FIG. 5, Step 63) Here, creation and operation of a menu and a dialog will be described.

Read the information of the menu name (FIG. 7C). Here, a menu name, a mnemonic, and a dialog ID for identifying a dialog to be displayed are set. This allows you to create a menu and, if selected,
You can determine which dialog to display.

The information of the dialog (FIG. 7C) is read. Here, the contents of the dialog to be displayed are set. The label name to be displayed and the MIB name obtained from the target device are set. Thereby, the content of the dialog to be displayed can be determined. Also, 2. 2. Read the panel image bitmap and The GUI-if section generates GUI configuration data from the automatic discovery processing of
The I control unit sets and displays interface information, LED information, and a panel image bitmap in a panel window.

[0096] 5. Polling processing (Fig. 5, Step 6)
4) Polling information in the model-specific information file (Fig. 7-
From E), information is obtained and polling is performed.

Interface status identification MIB (FIG. 7-
E,) is acquired from the target device. The acquired data is a list in which the states of the interfaces currently mounted on the target device are stored in ascending order in the order of the interface numbers in which the states are stored.

Interface status color (FIG. 7-E,)
Read the information of. Here, the value acquired by the interface state identification MIB is associated with the color of the interface bitmap file displayed on the panel window, and the color of the interface bitmap file to be displayed can be determined.

LED status identification MIB (FIG. 7-E,)
Also, the LED status colors (FIG. 7-E,) are the same as in the case of the interface.

As described above, when the management application is developed, the information obtained by analyzing the target device can be easily set by using the customizing apparatus of the present invention.

Further, by using only the device-specific information file generated by the customizing device, even if there are a plurality of target devices, the management application can be compactly created by the shared platform control unit and the GUI function. it can.

[0102]

As described above, according to the present invention, a new target device management application can be developed only by creating a device-specific information file using a customizing device, thereby improving productivity. , Has the effect of being very effective for management application development of target devices with a short life cycle, and also has the effect of improving maintenance efficiency when maintaining management applications because all modules are shared. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a development environment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a board control unit 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for creating a device-specific information file according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart when the management application of the present invention is activated and in operation.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a device-specific file according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a dialog display example of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional network connection device management application development method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 0,74 management application 1 base control unit 2 device specific information file 3 GUI control unit 4,73 customizing device 5 target device 31 management protocol communication unit 32 interface automatic discovery unit 33 device specific data analysis unit 34 general-purpose database 35 GUI-if unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/00 G06F 13/00 H04L 12/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pipe for managing a network connection device.
Network connection for developing application
A device management application development method, wherein the network
Define customization data specific to
A customizing device for creating a device-specific information file;
Analyzes the device-specific information file, and
Device-specific data solution to obtain device-specific GUI configuration data
Obtain the latest data of the analysis unit and the network connection device
Control unit with automatic interface detection unit
And GUI configuration data specific to the network connection device.
And the latest data of the network connection device obtained
A network consisting of a GUI control unit that creates and displays a GUI
Network connection device management application development method
And the customization data is stored in the network connection.
Menu definition and dialog on GUI depending on connected device
Items to be displayed on the screen, and the network
Interface with network, including LED configuration status
Network connection equipment pipe characterized by comprising
Application development method. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
Configuration information about interfaces in the device-specific information file
Configuration data obtained by analyzing the
Data and the latest data of the acquired network connection device.
What type of interface and LED
Found the composition of what position it was
The GUI system is configured to reflect the configuration on the GUI.
The control according to claim 1, wherein the control is performed via a control unit.
Network connection device management application development method. 3. The interface automatic discovery unit according to claim 1, wherein
Poll the configuration and status of the network connected device
By doing, LED of the network connection device
When there is a change in the configuration state and the color of the LED, the change
The GUI control unit so that the conversion is reflected in the GUI.
2. The network according to claim 1, wherein the control is performed via a network.
Work connection device management application development method.